Bartlett Firefighter Seized In Drug Sting

A Bartlett firefighter-paramedic was arrested in a drug sting Thursday night after he was accused of trying to sell 1,000 Ecstasy pills to an undercover police officer.

Edward Hanson, 24, of the 500 block of Orchards Pass, Bartlett, is charged with one Class X felony count of delivery of a controlled substance. A Cook County judge set his bond Friday at $30,000.

Schaumburg police arrested Hanson after he was accused of trying to sell the drugs to an undercover Schaumburg officer in an apartment in the 1300 block of East Algonquin Road, said Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Judy Gilson-Weldon.

Terry McGraw, a supervisor with the Schaumburg Police Department, said Hanson is accused of asking for $9,000 in exchange for 300 grams of Ecstasy tablets.

Bartlett Fire Chief Steve Figved said Friday that the Fire Department was deeply troubled by the arrest.

"We're all in shock here, because we've never had this sort of problem," he said.

Figved said Hanson started as a volunteer with the Fire Department, is well-liked, and has been an excellent employee. He has been suspended because of the arrest and could face further disciplinary action.

"He won't be responding to calls," Figved said.

Figved said Hanson worked for the department as a full-time contract employee hired through Paramedic Services of Illinois Inc. of Schiller Park. A call to the company was not returned Friday afternoon.

Hanson has no known arrest record.

His next court date, in the Rolling Meadows branch of Cook County Circuit Court, is scheduled for May 9.